Yorkshire Pudding is a traditional British dish, originating from – of course – Yorkshire. I got a hankerin’ and had to have some. But I’ve never actually seen proper Yorkshire Pudding in the states. Below is my interpretation of several recipes combined.

Ingredients:

· a scant cup of flour

· 1/2 tsp salt

· 2 eggs

· 1 – 1¼ cups milk

· 4 tbsp oil or lard

Directions:

Mix the eggs, one cup of milk, and salt. Gradually add in the flour. The consistency should be relatively that of heavy cream. Add up to the extra ¼ cup if needed. Make sure all the lumps are out. Cover this and let it sit in the fridge for at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 450º. In a muffin pan with 12 units, disperse the oil or lard evenly to each compartment. Lard is recommended as it’s smoking temperature is higher, but I use the more convenient oil and it works just fine. Put just this in the oven for 5 minutes. The oil will get hot and probably smoke. Take out the batter and mix it again to make sure it hasn’t seperated at all. When you are ready, pull the oven rack out, but don’t move the pan – keep it ready to close up in the oven. Disperse the batter evenly and close it in the oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes without opening the oven door, Sylvia Plath. They will rise and collapse a bit in the middle. They are meant to be a bit misshapen. The consistency is bready and a bit crunchy on the outside and gooey like pudding on the inside. Take them out and serve right away.

Variations:

You could make the same batter, and put it in an 8x8x2 inch pan, bake it the same, and cut it into squares when done. I prefer the muffin pan, because you get more bready and less puddingy. Another fun way to cook this is in a pie pan, so it comes out in a circle. Then you can put beef and gravy on top of it and it is like a Yorkshire Pudding bowl. This is a common way to serve it in pubs. So yes, this is great with gravy. You can also pour this over sausages and make Toad In The Hole.

Yorkshire Pudding is also delicious with fruits, powder sugar, and sweet couplings. Use your imagination. One you taste this puddin’, you’ll think of all sorts of things you can do with it!

If this wasn’t British enough for you, then we have:

The Mushy Pea Debacle

During this stint of anglophilism, I also wanted to make mushy peas. Traditionally, there is no food processor involved in this. You get dried peas and soak them overnight with 2tsp of baking soda, then rinse and cook them for 20 minutes in water just covering them. I followed this direction, and the process was very interesting. I set the peas up and covered them overnight. In the morning, they looked as though they had not broken down at all. I was worried. The time came to cook them, and I figured that I’d boil them for 20 minutes, and if I ended up with just plain peas that would be just as well. I kept close watch over the peas as they boiled. A light foam rose to the top from the left over baking soda. The peas remained in tact. Between 18 and 19 minutes I checked the starting football game. When I came back the peas were completely broken down and mushy. The consistency was spot on, and became so in an instant. But this culinary experiment was not a success. They just didn’t taste right. All the mushy peas I had in pubs were kind of sweet. These were sulfuric, almost like a mushed up hard boiled egg. If anyone has a solution to this, please let me know! I think it may just be that I used a different kind of pea than is common across the pond but I can’t be sure. I do know, that I am going to avoid trying to make mushy peas unless I get better information!

2 thoughts on “Yorkshire Puddins”

Just made some Yorkshire Puddings with a blackberry/blueberry compote. It was pretty tasty – just heat the berries, some sugar, and a small bit of water while the puddings are cooking. Spoon in to the fallen center when you serve. Win!

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We're just a group of friends from Chicago that wanted a place to share recipes and make them accessible amongst each other. If other people can find use in our little collection of cooking experience - then that's awesome! No bells and whistles here, just some people who like to eat and sometimes experiment in the kitchen.